Sunday 21 August 2016

Visiting 'blocked' URL of Torrents can land you in jail for 3 years

Visiting 'blocked' URL of Torrents in India can land you in jail for 3 years
Source: khaleejtimes - Filed on August 21, 2016

Visiting blocked URLs in India was fine till now, however not anymore.

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Still trying to use Torrents in India? You may end up in jail for three years AND invite a fine of Rs 3 lakh.
Visiting blocked URLs in India was fine till now, however not anymore, according to Indian media reports.
If you visit such a URL, you will be shown the following warning.
"This URL has been blocked under the instructions of the Competent Government Authority or in compliance with the orders of a Court of competent jurisdiction. Viewing, downloading, exhibiting or duplicating an illicit copy of the contents under this URL is punishable as an offence under the laws of India, including but not limited to under Sections 63, 63-A, 65 and 65-A of the Copyright Act, 1957 which prescribe imprisonment for 3 years and also fine of upto Rs. 3,00,000/-. Any person aggrieved by any such blocking of this URL may contact aturlblock@tatacommunications.com who will, within 48 hours, provide you the details of relevant proceedings under which you can approach the relevant High Court or Authority for redressal of your grievance."
You don't have to actually download or upload on Torrents to invite the penalty. Just accessing information under a blocked URL will land you in jail and leave your bank account poorer by Rs 3 lakh.
Earlier there were reports of the arrest of KickAss Torrents founder Artem Vaulim, being arrested in Poland and the website made unoperational. In short, one of the most favourite sites for online pirates is biting the dust, and in all likelihood for good.
The Indian government, with the help of internet service providers has banned thousands of websites and URLs in the last five odd years. 
Earlier in June, the Abu Dhabi Court had convicted the administrator of a pirate website used to illegally upload torrents and facilitate illegal streaming of copyrighted television series, movies and misusing pay-TV platform OSN's intellectual property rights.
Following a complaint by OSN, the Abu Dhabi Police investigated and presented the complaint with evidence to the prosecutor's office, who prepared and charged the pirate with criminal offences.
Based on the facts and evidence, the court passed judgment sentencing the pirate to six months in jail followed by deportation to his home country.
The pirate was also ordered to pay Dh50,000 as compensation to OSN for copyright and trademark infringement. As per the court's order, the Prosecutor's Office will work with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) to block the pirate website.
"The authorities have adopted extreme vigilance to all forms of television piracy which has resulted in websites streaming illegal content being blocked in the UAE. Stealing movies or television series is an offence, whether it is online or as DVDs from a shop, and the authorities recognise that the financial impact on the legitimate copyright owners will be the same," said Sophie Moloney, General Counsel of OSN.
"Our efforts against DishTV India for piracy have resulted in positive results. We have also made significant advances in fighting IPTV piracy. The action against illegal operators will serve as a stern warning against TV piracy. The public can contribute to fighting it by voluntarily staying away from accessing illegal content on any platforms."
According to estimates by the International Data Corporation, TV piracy - through the use of illegal set-top boxes, unauthorised VPN subscriptions, and torrent downloads - costs over $750 million in losses to the content and consumer product creation industries in the Middle East and Africa every year.

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